Match Preview : FC aim for three consecutive league wins

We take a trip to Yorkshire on Tuesday night to face Liversedge for the first time ever. 

Liversedge are a club on the up. Last season, they stormed to the Northern Premier League Division One East title and, despite the league’s tedious name, they claimed the honours in riveting fashion. 

Twenty-nine wins. One defeat. 98 goals – the most of any team in the Northern Premier Division. 20 clean sheets. Liversedge regularly put four, five, or six past whoever was unfortunate enough to cross their path as they galloped to a second successive promotion. 

This stint of success has been a long time coming. The Sedge spent 30 consecutive seasons in the ninth tier and after over a century of existence, this is their maiden foray into seventh-tier football. 

It has been a baptism of fire for Jonathan Rimmington’s men, who currently sit in the relegation zone with just seven points. Their only wins in the league have come against Whitby Town and Belper Town, who both languish below Liversedge at the foot of the table. 

Recent fixtures haven’t been kind to The Sedge, yielding a 2-14 aggregate score. Their last league game was a 2-5 home defeat to fellow new boys Warrington Rylands, while an FA Cup replay at Chorley, of National League North pedigree, ended 9-0. 

The club lost many of their high performers over the summer. Last season, Liversedge spread the goals around generously; six men hit double figures in the goals column. But now only two of those stars, Ben Atkinson and Joe Walton, remain with the team. 

Nathan Cartman has been a leading light among the squad this campaign and has bagged four goals, including a brace against Belper Town. The forward, who recently returned to Liversedge after a decade away, used to be a captain in the Leeds United youth setup. 

Ahead of the fixture, Neil Reynolds has been positive, but isn’t getting complacent. “I had the opportunity to watch Liversedge against Chorley and I’m not looking too much into the result. They’re a good side and they come up against a really strong Chorley side. They’re going to bounce back.

“We’re going to go there buoyant and I hope we make it five away wins. I’ve challenged the lads to get into the playoff spots and stay there.”

We travel to Liversedge on the back of two consecutive league wins. 

On Saturday, a raft of new faces featured as FC edged out a 1-0 victory at Warrington Town to propel us into the top half. 

Between the sticks, loanee Wyll Stanway turned in a man-of-the-match debut. With a flurry of acrobatic saves, the youngster won many admirers and was seen taking photos with enamoured junior fans after the game. 

It was also a memorable afternoon for Will Russ, who nicked his first goal for us after entering the fray as a second-half substitute. 

Five of the starters on Saturday weren’t with the club at the start of the season, and Reno responded to the suggestion that the club have brought in too many players.

“The attitudes of the new lads are great. They know the systems, they know the rotations, the fitness is always there, and they’re good footballers.

“People question about loan signings but I’ll continue to do it. I know I can get the best out of players and it’s pleasing that clubs trust us to develop their players. That’s why we’ve got lads from Wigan, Fleetwood, Burnley, Doncaster, Preston, and Blackburn in the past. We’ll keep developing the players.”

“The more senior lads have been great too. We like to play attacking football and will continue to do that. It’s going to be a long season and it’s going to be a good season.”

The support against Warrington Town was electric and we’re going to need more of that against Liversedge. Get yourselves along to Clayborn and be part of the noise! 

By Luke Power